Newtown basketball team honors fallen friend

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, November 8, 2007

And that has been on the basketball court.

Quinn, along with his Newtown High basketball players, Newtown athletic director Greg Simon and the entire Newtown athletic department, will be hosting the 6th annual John Giorno Memorial 3-on-3 basketball tournament this Saturday at Newtown High School.

All proceeds from the event go to the Giorno College Fund, named in honor of Quinn's dear friend who died of cancer in 2002.

"He was a great friend of mine and Newtown basketball," Quinn said.

The day-long double-elimination tourney is broken down into four different brackets based on age. The competition is open to children from fourth grade up to high school.

In addition to the tournament, the day-long event also will have contest such as Knockout and will have a silent auction with a boat-load of prizes, including autographed UConn merchandise and tickets to Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Nets games.

The event has become a kicking off point of sorts for Quinn as he gets ready to start his 12th season as the Nighthawks head coach.

He uses the tournament as a team-building exercise as his Newtown basketball team helps officiate and run the event.

Teams can register their four-player teams up until the day of the tournament and get registration forms from Simon or Quinn. Sign-up sheets can also be found online at www.newtownyouthbasketball.com.